


Day Off

by WishaDream



Series: Control Shorts [10]
Category: Control (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, Domestic Fluff, F/F, False Alarm, Fluff, Found Family, Married Couple, Married Life, Post canon, Worry, and actual family, dylan has dog named darling, dylan has terrible handwriting, dylan runs away, emily's not comfortable with it but has accepted it, jesse recalls her feelings on finding dylan at fbc, living with your sibling, or more like made family, possible spoilers for main game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:20:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29517309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishaDream/pseuds/WishaDream
Summary: Emily and Jesse have a rare day off together from the FBC. While they enjoy most of the morning, their peaceful day is turned upside down when they find a note from Dylan “gone forever” and he took the dog.
Relationships: Dylan Faden & Jesse Faden, Jesse Faden/Emily Pope
Series: Control Shorts [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119476
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	Day Off

The soft twitter of birds outside the window drew Jesse out of her slumber as she slowly came awake.

Opening her eyes, through the large bedroom windows, she watched the birds flitter about the garden. The windows went from floor to ceiling, allowing her to see the birds land among the flowers in the garden outside the window.

It was her personal garden where she clustered seasonal flowers so there was always something in bloom. Always some burst of color to greet the eyes and perfume to fill the senses with the sweet scent of life.

For years she’d been on the run or locked up in a psychiatric hospital. This gave her an appreciation for nature and open spaces. For colors that did not remind one of the stark white and clean steel of a hospital.

Past the garden stood a trellis walkway which had twinkle lights strung over it along with the vines of morning glories. Parallel to the trellis she’d planted a weeping cherry tree which was currently in bloom.

Along the fence line at the end of the trellis a porch swing faced the house, giving one a nice view of the whole yard. It had been where she’d sat the previous night, gently rocking as she watched the flowers at night.

Letting out a tired groan she rolled over, her eyes refocusing as her gaze rested on one of her favorite sights. A sleeping Emily.

Her heart swelled with a feeling of joy as she considered how lucky she was to have Emily in her life. Not just for a moment, but forever.

She smiled to herself as she played with the wedding band on her ring finger.

It still amazed her that Emily had agreed to share her life with her. Not just her life, but also her hopes, her dreams, her time, her space, her bed. Everything.

Including moments like the one right now, with the sun through the windows casting a warm glow on the woman, making her look like a sleeping Disney princess.

Usually Emily slept with the blankets pulled up to her ears, but in the movements of the night the cover had slipped down to her shoulder. The silk of her pajamas shimmered in the sunlight, like liquid obsidian.

Jesse knew well what the fabric felt like, she had run her fingers across it many times, letting her hands slide across the slick fabric as she memorized the lines of her wife’s body.

Even knowing it well, she still found herself reaching out. Not to relearn anything she’d forgotten, but because of the desire to be in contact with the woman. To have physical confirmation that this moment was real. That she was real.

Though they had been married for months, her mind still had moments when it could not believe any of this was real. Moments when it could not believe that Emily was actually there lying beside her. That they were together. That they were happy, living a peaceful life in spite of the chaos that was the rest of their life.

As her hand touched Emily, her thumb caressing her shoulder, the woman stirred, her eyebrows lifting as she came awake.

‘Jesse.”

Her smile was tired, but bright in spite of only being half awake.

Jesse returned the smile as she leaned in to place a soft kiss on the end of Emily’s nose.

‘Morning. Did you have any plans for today?”

Emily let out a discontented groan as she shifted on the bed, sliding under the blankets so they almost covered her head.

‘I *don’t* want to think about what we should be doing.”

“I’m down with that.”

Adjusting her position on the bed, she moved closer to Emily as she wrapped her arms around her. As she did Emily snuggled in closer, resting her head against Jesse’s chest as she let out a contended sigh.

Other than the birds, the rest of the house was quiet, the only other sound being the slow steady beating of her own heart.

“I would have never thought it possible we’d both get a day off at the same time,” as she spoke, Emily’s words vibrated against Jesse’s skin. While her skin prickled at the spot, the thing that that made her skin tingle was the way Emily ran her finger along the bare skin of Jesse’s thigh.

While Emily preferred wearing a silk pajama set to bed, Jesse preferred a tanktop and underwear. In her waking hours she was usually at work, running, climbing, fighting, but at night, when she was at rest her energy seemed to build up making her overheat.

It was something she didn’t tend to mind, especially in these moments where her bare skin was able to make direct contact with Emily’s body.

“Do you think this is an AWE or an AI?”

Jesse smiled before kissing the top of her wife’s head, “Neither. I’d know if it were.”

As Emily shifted in her arms Jesse loosened her hold, giving the blonde the space she needed to pull back. As she sat up she pushed Jesse’s shoulder, directing her onto her back as Emily moved to sit astride her.

Jesse’s mouth crooked to the side as she let out an intrigued, “Oh. Have you decided on something other than cuddling?”

She met Emily halfway as the woman leaned down to kiss her.

Sitting back again, Emily patted Jesse’s shoulders before saying, “Yes. I’ve decided we shouldn’t waste this day by staying in bed.”

Jesse dropped her head back onto the pillow as she let out a disappointed groan.

As Emily got up she rolled onto her side to watch her as she padded into the bathroom, “No. Why? This was so nice.”

When Emily came out of the bathroom, Jesse was lying on her side, head propped up on her elbow. Seeing the woman, she patted the space in front of her.

‘Come on, you know you want to stay with me.”

Emily gave her a crooked smile before heading out of the bedroom, “Or you can join me in making breakfast.”

Jesse lifted her head just in time to see Emily burl her finger at her in a beckoning motion. That was enough for her as she sprang from the bed before hurrying down the hall after the woman.

The kitchen had been filled with “yummy” colors, as Jesse called them. Mint green for the countertops, peach sherbet for the walls. Even the cabinets had a candy apple red color to them.

When Emily had first suggested the peach for the walls, Jesse had thought of the flesh tone from Crayola crayons. But when she had seen the color she had referred to it as a “delicious yellow.”

Delicious colors for the kitchen, cozy shades for the living room.

When Dylan had seen their choices for the kitchen he’d frowned before shrugging as he went, “At least it’s not grey.”

  


While Emily poured the ingredients for pancakes into a mixing bowl, Jesse stood behind her, using her hands to reacquaint herself with the scientists’’ body.

“Could you pass me the eggs?”

She handed them over before moving to trace a line down Emily’s neck with her lips.

“Jesse, you’re not really—higher, higher,” Emily let out a shuddered breath, “No. Yes. There.”

Jesse stopped kissing Emily’s neck as she concentrated on massaging the spot between Emily’s shoulder blades.

The woman let out a low groan as she stopped stirring the batter, “Ah, yes. Thank you. I must have slept wrong and agitated a nerve.”

Once that was done Jesse returned to tracing the lines of Emily’s body with her fingers. That’s when Emily elbowed her side gently.

“You are *not* helping. Why don’t you go see if Dylan is up yet? If so, see if he wants pancakes.”

Jesse let out a disappointed whimper but did as she’d been told.

On the opposite end of the house from her and Emily’s bedroom was Dylan’s room.

Knocking at the door she waited for his response. When it didn’t come she called out his name before warning him she was coming inside.

Still nothing.

She opened the door.

Dylan’s bedroom had been set up to look like his furniture had been left in the woods. Having spent even longer in a cold grey room, he’d decided he never again want to be trapped indoors.

Shaggy green carpet covered the floor like a blanket of grass. The east and south walls had been covered in a glossy wallpaper that depicted a forest scene. On the wall with his bed, Jesse had made a paper-mâché tree trunk with branches that lined the ceiling. Paper cut out leaves covered the branches along with twinkle lights that mimicked the lights of fire flies at night.

On the nightstand a white noise machine made to look like a rock would play the sounds of the forest at night. It was off now as the bed beside it looked to have already been made up for the day.

Half of the north side of the room had been filled with a sliding glass door which gave Dylan direct access to the backyard.

While Jesse’s garden took up the east side of the backyard, the west side had been left free for Dylan to decorate.

He had let her put a tool shed there, set against the fence. There was also a standing hammock, which he’d sleep in on the nights he didn’t want to be indoors.

As she looked outside she did not see him or his dog, a poodle he’d named Darling.

He wasn’t in the living room either when she passed, but she would have seen him on leaving the kitchen. The only other place he could be was in Emily’s office. Her own personal space.

While Jesse and Emily shared everything now, Emily still required her own space. Which was fine, couples needed to have their own things they did separate from the other person.

When work had taken over her focus and she need space where she could answer its call in peace she had her office. Three walls of the office where lined with shelves, the fourth with white boards which she filled with various formulas and data. In the center of the room a table had been set up with her laptop and various vials and chemicals.

To keep outside sounds to a minimum, Jesse had installed padding on the walls and installed a light on the outside of the room. When the light was on, those outside knew Emily was within and did not disturbed.

She did not always use it. Sometimes, when she wasn’t too focused on her work she’d let Jesse sit in the room in a chair she’d set up in the corner.

“But please don’t distract me. I really need to concentrate.”

Jesse would agree and pick up a book. But she tended to spend more time watching Emily work, or listening to her mumble to herself as she worked out the solution to a problem, her brow furrowed as she was so completely engrossed in her work she sometimes forgot Jesse was there. When she recalled she’d smile, looking pleasantly surprised as her eyes alighted on the red head.

“Oh, have you been there long?”

  


The light on the study wasn’t on and when Jesse looked inside she did not find Dylan.

She headed back to the kitchen.

“He’s up, but I don’t know where he…” she paused as she noticed Emily standing in front of the fridge just staring at the front like she was transfixed, “Emily?”

The woman’s brow was furrowed as she turned to look at Jesse, ‘Can you—can you take a look at this? What does it look like to you?”

She sounded concerned as Jesse stepped to her side. There was a white board on the front of the fridge. The family used it to write reminders to one another. At the moment there was a quickly scribbled note from Dylan.

Jesse frowned as she read the words, “Gone forever. Taking Darling.”

“You don’t think…” Emily’s voice broke as she was unable to continue the thought.

‘No.”

‘But it looks like--.”

“I know,” Jesse’s jaw felt tight as she stared at the words, willing them to say something else.

“Why would he leave?”

Jesse had thought he was happy there, living with them. Thought he’d been satisfied with the space they’d made for him.

Nothing she could think of gave her any indication of his desire to leave.

Just last night they’d had a barbecue on the back deck.

Dylan had stood beside her as she’d grilled the food, his eyes lifted to the sky as he stared at the black expanse.

‘Shame we can’t see the stars here in the city.”

It had seemed so casual at the time and she’d answered accordingly as she said, “Yeah. We’re out in nature but it doesn’t feel like it with technology hiding the stars.”

Dylan took a sip of his beer before letting out a heavy sigh, “I really want to see the stars.”

_Was that the reason he left? He was feeling suffocated without the stars. Why couldn’t he tell me that?_

Clenching her hands at her side, she felt her resolve kick in as she told Emily, “I’m going to call him. You finish this up so if we need we can head out.”

“Okay.”

Back in her room, Jesse grabbed her phone, holding it between her cheek and shoulder as she pulled on a pair of jeans she’d flung over a chair the previous night.

As the phone rang through without picking up she decided she didn’t have time to find a shirt as she grabbed her jacket.

The phone had gone to voicemail as she headed out of the room, “Dylan, it’s Jesse. Please call me.”

Grabbing her boots from the entryway, she hung up the phone then opened the text app as she typed out a message, “Where are you? What’s with the note?”

Emily was rinsing out the bowl, but turned to look at her as Jesse entered the room. She didn’t have to ask as she could see the answer in the way Jesse’s shoulders were rolled back like when she was about to go on a mission in the Old House.

“Where should we look first?”

_That’s the problem. I don’t know._

They got into the car. Emily didn’t even change, “I don’t want to waste time. Who knows when he left.”

The car was silent as it rolled down the neighborhood road. The street was just as silent, most people off at work, or quietly locked away in their homes.

Jesse took the car down the road that ran alongside the nearby neighborhood hiking trail. Her and Dylan would take Darling on walks there as they’d occasionally talk about the good old days as the woods reminded them of the forest around their childhood home. There they’d spent hours playing various games of imagination. Games of Tom and Huck, pirates, Metroid. Anything and everything they could image the woods provided the exact thing they needed for their adventures.

But most of the time on their walks they talked about the future and their plans for it. Dylan would ask if it was really alright that he lived with his sister.

“Of course. But if you feel like you need more space, I’ve been eyeing the house next to ours. I see one of the rooms as housing an art studio, another room for dance. I even hear the home has one of this sunken living rooms. I’ve always loved those.”

_Was that it? Did I scare him away because he couldn’t see as far forward as me?_

  


“Should I get out and check the hiking trail?”

Jesse shook her head, “If he’s left he wouldn’t have gone there.”

Emily’s mouth was in a tight line as she nodded. Though she hadn’t known Dylan as long she cared just as much for the man as his sister. Under any other circumstance Jesse would have been happy to see how much she cared. Instead she focused on the panic rising in her chest as she gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“We’ll find him.”

In spite of the worry she must be feeling, Emily’s smile was hopeful as she touched Jesse’s knee. She gave it a reassuring squeeze before turning her eyes back to the window as she searched the street for her brother-in-law.

While Emily searched in the present, Jesse stood in front of a glass cube in the past.

After 17 years of searching she’d finally found her brother, only to find he’d been possessed by a destructive entity known as the Hiss.

On the outside she appeared strong and collected, keeping her tone even as she listened to him talk nonsense. Inside she was a turbulent mess as she imagined herself running forward to slam her hands against the glass as she screamed for the Hiss to let her brother go. At the same time she curled into a ball and wept as she realized that no matter how far she’d come she’d come too late. She had come so far, worked so hard to find him, but when he was just within her grasp the Hiss took him. And yet again she’d been unable to protect him.

Yet again she hadn’t reached him in time. Hadn’t been able to save him from this new threat as it tore him apart from the inside out.

  


What had she done this time to make him leave?

She thought back over the last few days, considered the things that might have given him a reason to leave. Considered the areas she might have misstepped, said the wrong thing, made him feel unwelcome. Made a mistake.

_What problem did I create this time?_

The problem was obvious. Her brother was still miserable. He hadn’t yet found his place in the world.

Emily had her science. Jesse had her directorship. And Dylan had—what?

A dog?

That couldn’t be enough for anyone. He needed more. Wanted more.

And she’d missed seeing that. Had thought he was happy. But she’d just been blinded by her own joy and completely missed out on all the signs.

When her and Emily had been married they’d immediately started looking for a place they could make their own. Before then Jesse had been living with her brother. When he found out she was leaving the apartment he suggested finding his own place. They assured him they wanted him to move in with them. That they’d love to have him.

_Did I force him into a situation he never wanted to be a part of?_

Letting out a pained groan she rested her forehead on the steering wheel as the car rolled to a stop.

_Oh God, why do I always mess things up? Always ruin things._

No matter how hard she tried to make things better she just seemed to end up making things worse.

“Jesse,” Emily sounded concerned for her wife.

She personally knew how much Jesse worried about her brother. There had been several nights Jesse had needed her to hold her as she cried about her concerns for her brother.

Would he ever find his place in the world?

She had offered him a position at the FBC, but even with her being the one in charge he wanted nothing to do with the place.

Emily reminded her every time that he just needed time to find his footing.

But how long should she wait?

Up till then he spent most of his time staying at home with the dog. Occasionally he went out on walks with the dog taking him further and further out into the world.

Just the other day he’d informed Jesse that his walk with Darling had taken him all the way to the little shopping center near their neighborhood.

But was that really enough?

She felt like a worried mother, concerned with if her child would be able to survive once she was gone.

  


They reached the little shopping area in their search. It was a stretch of mom and pop shops, mostly pastry shops and coffee nooks.

As Jesse turned a corner she heard Emily let out a hopeful, “Jesse.” The woman was staring over Jesse’s left shoulder as she instructed her to, “Look.”

Turning, Jesse felt her mouth drop into a confused frown as she searched the area for what Emily could have been look at. Then she saw him.

“Dylan.”

Emily let out a surprised yelp as Jesse leapt out of the car without putting it into park.

Dylan was just across the street sitting outside a little café. He had his head back, eyes lifted to the sky as Darling lay curled into a ball at his feet.

“Dylan!”

Her brother looked confused as he dropped his eyes to find her running at him.

‘Jesse?”

“Dylan,” She leapt at him, stopping just before making contact. Her brother still had trouble accepting human contact.

“Dylan.”

His brow furrowed as he noticed how out of breath she sounded.

“You okay?”

“Your note. We saw your note. Why—why are you leaving?”

“Leaving?” he looked confused, ‘I said I was going on a walk and that I was taking Darling.”

Now she was confused as she opened her mouth to object, only to stop as she pictured the note again.

Gone for—walk?

If she tried real hard she could see the word “Forever” actually reading as “for walk.” It wasn’t too far a leap, Dylan had atrocious handwriting, especially when leaving notes on the whiteboard. There had been multiple occasions when they’d read his notes wrong.

“I don’t feel comfortable buying you porn, Dylan.”

‘Porn? No. I wrote plums.”

  


Emily had just reached the pair as she asked Dylan, “Why are you leaving?”

Dylan let out a frustrated sigh, “I’m just curious what you two think I wrote. I’m on a walk,” he motioned to the street, dog, and leash, “I only left the note in case you two woke up before I got back and freaked out,’ he let out a tired sigh, ‘But I guess I wasn’t able to avoid that.”

Jesse and Emily exchanged a look before Jesse said, “Sorry we just…”

_Should I tell him what we thought?_

“Can I hug you?”

He let out a low groan, but lifted his arms in signal he would accept it. As soon as Jesse had wrapped her arms around him she felt Emily slam into her back as she joined the hug.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“I was—till you two weirdoes got here. Seriously, what did you think I said in the note?”

Jesse pulled back as Emily moved back to give the pair space, “Dylan, if you feel like you need your space, that you want to set out on your own in order to find yourself, I won’t stop you. I just want you to be happy.”

“You thought I was leaving?”

Jesse and Emily nodded.

He rolled his eyes to the side, “And where would I go? I don’t have any money.”

“If you wanted we could give you the funds.”

Dylan pulled back from her, looking frustrated as he said, “Listen if you want me to leave just say so. I knew moving in with you two was a mistake. Of course a married couple wouldn’t feel comfortable living with their brother.”

Though his voice was harsh she could see tears making his eyes shine as his jaw flexed with emotion.

‘Dylan, no. No. We invited you to live with us because we love you. Having you back in my life was the only thing I ever wanted. The only thing I dreamed about for 17 years. If you’d let me I’d never let you leave my side again. Even when we get older I plan on living in the room across from yours at the nursing home.”

“We both know you’re not reaching old age with your job.”

It was a dark thought but it made Jesse laugh as she felt the tension completely leave her body.

“That’s why I have Emily. She’ll make sure I live that long.”

‘Don’t put that pressure on me.”

Emily joined Jesse in laughing as she watched the hardness in her brother’s expression relax as his face took on a soft smile.

“If you two are done freaking out, Darling and I were about to go get ice cream, if you wanted to join us.”

The two women exchanged a look before smiling as they moved to walk on either side of the man. Then as one they linked arms with him as they moved forward together. They didn’t stop this even after they’d reached the ice cream shop where Jesse turned to Dylan to ask what flavor he wanted.

“You know this whole acting like my moms thing is really creepy. You should knock it off.”

“Don’t be so unappreciative, your Jesse just wants to know what flavor you want.” Emily giggled behind her hand as Dylan let out a distressed groan.

“If you two keep acting like this I *will* move out.”

Jesse reached up as she ruffled her brother’s hair. “But I can’t help but want to spoil you. You know you’ll always be my baby brother.”

Though he let out another annoyed sigh she could see the edges of his mouth had curled with the hint of a smile.

‘Ugh, you two are the worst.”

Emily and Jesse exchanged another look before both moved in to wrap the grown man in a hug. As they did Darling started to bark as Dylan said, “See, Darling agrees with me.”

As the dog stood up the trio added him to the hug as Emily and Jesse laughed.

Though they were all still trying to find their footing, in this moment Jesse realized everything was going to be okay. They were both slowly working on healing and as long as they had each other they would be fine.

“Jesse.”

“Hmm.”

“Thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you for bringing me home.”

She smiled as she squeezed her brother tighter, making him groan.

“That does it. I’m leaving.”

“Nope. You’re trapped now.”

Jesse and Emily both let out sinister laughs as Dylan let out a pained groan.

“This family is a f*cking nightmare!”

___

**Bonus**

Arish set a file down on Jesse’s desk, pausing for a moment as he asked, “How did your day off go? I heard you and Emily were both off. Did you have a nice chill day?”

Jesse recalled the morning and how panicked she had been when she thought Dylan had run away. But the rest of the day had been relaxed as the trio had spent the rest of the day together, walking in the park, eating at an outdoor bistro. In the evening they set up an outdoor theatre, putting a sheet over one of the tall trellis’ she used to block out the neighborhood noise as they watched a trio of Alfred Hitchcock classics.

Smiling, she picked up the file as she told the head of security, “We had a good day.”

He smiled, “I’m glad.” He started to leave, pausing again as he looked back, “Hey, if you don’t have other plans, I’m looking to host a game day sometime in the future. I’d love it if the three of you could come.”

“Three?”

“You, Emily, and Dylan.”

She smiled, “I would be up for that. I’ll let you know what days we have free coming up. But the next time the two of us have a few days off we’re planning on taking Dylan camping.

“Oh, that sounds fun.”

“Yeah. We’re both looking forward to getting away from the city and seeing the stars.”

“I hope you can do that soon. You know, I could put in a word for you with the director.”

She laughed, “Thanks.”

After he’d left the office she returned her focus to the file in her hands. Her mind wasn’t registering any of the words as she realized she had to do something else first.

Picking up her phone she dialed a number.

“Hey Dylan, how do you feel about a game night?”


End file.
